Opéra de DijonOpéra de LilleLes Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg Théâtre de Caen

Premiered in August 1748 at the Academie Royale de la Musique in Paris, Pygmalion is one of Rameau’s most spectacular successes in the genre of “acte de ballet”, a short piece in one act combining spectacle, music and dance. Rameau’s Pygmalion takes us into the workshop of the sculptor who falls in love with his statue, to whom he has given the form of the perfect woman. Moved by this, Love gives life to the statue, along with all the graces.

Emmanuelle Haïm and her Concert d’Astrée have once again gathered around them a top-tier cast: Magali Leger gives flesh and voice to the love-struck statue, and the rising young Belgian tenor Reinoud Van Mechelen succumbs to her charms! The staging is directed by the South African choreographer Robyn Orlin, whose shows offer a joyous and often humorous mix of corporeal movement with video and the plastic arts, updating this parable into a contemporary reflection on the powers of creation.